QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 0.8ml

Earthquake near La Quinta, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in La Quinta in the 24 hours to 6:05 pm PDT (01:05 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 23 km (14 mi) SW, at 5:01 pm PDT on 30 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 8 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near La Quinta

This page: a magnitude 0.8 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) southwest of La Quinta, CA, at 5:26 am PDT on 18 October 2026 (12:26 UTC), 5.4 km deep.

USGS: 21 km SW of La Quinta, CA

26 km (16 mi) SSW of Palm Desert, CA · 100 km (62 mi) NE of San Diego, CA

5:26 am PDT, Oct 18, 2026 · · 5.4 km deep · released about 0.43 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near La Quinta Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 48 kmSan Diego County 62 kmImperial County 114 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
5:26 am PDT on 18 October 2026 ()
Where
21 km (13 mi) southwest of La Quinta, CA · earthquakes near La Quinta
Magnitude
M 0.8 (ml)
Depth
5.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Riverside County, 48 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
San Jacinto fault, 2 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Anza, Palm Desert, Vista Santa Rosa, Indian Wells, Rancho Mirage, Borrego Springs.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 0.43 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 1.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 35,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 25,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2,200× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 0.8 about 0.43 lb of TNT

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 5.2 on 2016-06-10 — about 4,300,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 48 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 41 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 22 km SE of this epicentre
  4. 5.7 Eastern San Diego County, California · 47 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 8km NNE of Ocotillo Wells, CA · 46 km SE of this epicentre

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 33.5090, -116.4447. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 48 km (30 mi) ENE earthquakes near Riverside County
San Diego County, CA 62 km (39 mi) SSW earthquakes near San Diego County
Imperial County, CA 114 km (71 mi) ESE earthquakes near Imperial County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

24 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.5 16 km NNE of Indio, CA
  2. 1.2 5 km SE of Cabazon, CA
  3. 1.5 10 km NE of Borrego Springs, CA
  4. 0.9 10 km NE of Borrego Springs, CA
  5. 1.5 6 km NE of Aguanga, CA
  6. 0.8 11 km NE of Julian, CA
  7. 0.5 10 km SSW of Idyllwild, CA
  8. 1.7 6 km NE of Aguanga, CA
  9. 0.5 4 km WSW of Anza, CA
  10. 0.3 3 km WSW of Anza, CA
  11. 0.8 9 km SSW of Idyllwild, CA
  12. 1.1 5 km WSW of Warner Springs, CA
  13. 0.9 9 km WNW of Anza, CA
  14. 0.7 9 km WNW of Anza, CA
  15. 0.6 7 km N of Lake Henshaw, CA

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.